Celebrating the work of horror writer Alvin Shwartz

For those who find the macabre irresistible, who side with Oogie Boogie rather than Santa Clause, who used to have a flashlight beside the bed to read after the lights were turned out and who make sure their toes aren’t sticking out of the covers in case a shark comes and bites them off, you may align with the ideas in the documentary Scary Stories.

This is a chronicle of the mania, the paranoia, the alarmism and the glee around the books by Alvin Schwartz’ unapologetic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (as illustrated by Stephen Gammell) that were banned, reviled, blacklisted.

A series of interviews with over 40 subjects, interspersed with provisionally animated interstitials in the style of illustrator Stephen Gammell, the film feels low budget, yet deftly crafted and approachable. In fact, the multi-media format maintains interest – using audio filters, different color effects, even dramatization, in addition to other atmospheric variations to keep the film visually and tonally intriguing.

Does this amalgam succeed? While it at times feels rather bespoke, it is also the film’s charm. This feels like a film made by enthusiasts for enthusiasts and is technically sufficiently competent to not prove distracting.

Stephen Gammell’s Unforgettable Dark Visions

It is a treat to hear actual interviews with everyone from friends, family, fans of Alvin Schwartz to R.L. Stine himself. The film then veers into Gammell’s dark and morbid illustrations that burned a brand into the minds of so many youngsters that to this day they can hardly revisit these images, while others have leaned in and created photorealistic images, clay sculptures, dioramas, 3D models and beyond.

The question is why – why do we obsess over these nightmarish visions? What is it about the twisted and dark visions that we both peer through our fingers and still obsessively manifest them?

We explore the family stories of reading these books to children to fertilize their imaginative turf, the fans who get full-length tattoo sleeves, the defiance of the book bans by the schools and libraries (even by the librarians).

We discover that Schwartz was also a dedicated researcher of old folktales and popular antique ghost stories, drawing from a legacy of successful and enduring spooky tales while affording them a contemporary spin. But part of Schwartz’s success also comes from his humor that used punchlines as perfect twists in classic short story form, preying on assumption and expectation and reminding the reader of the myopia of their bias and indoctrination.

Face the Darkness

For what reason should we avoid fear and darkness? Does it turn us into killers and monsters or does it teach us to face those things from which we run? We learn that it has to do with exposing those matters of reality that may one day prove exceedingly uncomfortable – indeed this form of exposure to anxiety and terror may, in fact, prove to galvanize us later on against shock and paralysis in face of the unknown, outre, unfamiliar. It may serve as a foundation to investigate rather than react to the unknown and unfamiliar.

Whatever the reason for the particular timing of this documentary, by the time you read this you may also see that Schwartz and Hammel’s iconic Scary Stories is being turned into a major motion picture by none other than Guillermo del Toro. By that time this humble documentary may be eclipsed, and in that its value may double, for the intimate stories shared by those who remembered it when…

Watch the trailer for the documentary “Scary Stories” below: